It has been refined into a highly thermallyinsulating concrete-based material used forboth internal and external construction.Besides AAC's insulating capability, one of itsadvantages in construction is its quick andeasy installation, for the material can berouted, sanded, and cut to size on site usingstandard carbon steelbandsaws, hand saws,and drills.

Even though regular cement mortar can beused, 98% of the buildings erected with AACmaterials use thin bed mortar, which comes todeployment in a thickness of ⅛

inch. Thisvaries according to national building codes andcreates solid and compact building members.AAC material can be coated with a stuccocompound or plaster against the elements.Siding materials such as brick or vinyl sidingcan also be used to cover the outside of AACmaterials.

Autoclaved aerated concrete

Asphalt concrete

is a composite materialcommonly used in construction projects suchas road surfaces, airports and parking lots. Itconsists of asphalt (used as a binder) andmineral aggregate mixed together, then laiddown in layers and compacted. It is alsoincreasingly used as the core for embankmentdams.

Biorock, also known asSeacrete, is asubstance formed by electro-accumulation ofminerals dissolved in seawater. The buildingprocess, popularly called accretion, is not tobe confused withBiorock

sewage treatment.Thebiorock

building process grows cement-like engineering structures and marineecosystems, often formariculture

of corals,oysters, clams, lobsters and fish in salt water. Itworks by passing a small electrical currentthrough electrodes in the water. The structuregrows more or less without limit as long ascurrent flows.

is most commonlyapplied to a mixture of Portland cement andsand reinforced with layers of woven orexpanded steel mesh and closely spacedsmall-diameter steel rods rebar. It can be usedto form relatively thin, compound curvedsheets to make hulls for boats, shell roofs,water tanks,etc

Lunarcrete, also known as "Mooncrete", anidea first proposed by Larry A. Beyer of theUniversity of Pittsburgh in 1985, is ahypothetical aggregate building material,similar to concrete, formed from lunarregolith, that would cut the constructioncosts of building on the Moon

Lunacrete

http://eb-misfit.blogspot.com/

http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2010/10/strange-lunar-brew/

Terrazzo

is a composite material poured inplace or precast, which is used for floor andwall treatments. It consists of marble,quartz, granite, glass or other suitablechips, sprinkled orunsprinkled, and pouredwith a binder that iscementitious, chemicalor a combination of both. Terrazzo is cured,ground and polished to a smooth surface orotherwise finished to produce a uniformlytextured surface.

is a trademark for a translucentconcrete building material. The name isshort for "light-transmitting concrete". Thetechnical data sheet from the manufacturer

says the material is made of 96% concreteand 4% by weight of optical fibers, it wasdeveloped in 2001 by Hungarian architectÁron

Losonczi

working with scientists at theTechnical University of Budapest.

LiTraCon

http://www.litracon.hu/downloads.php

Pykrete

is a composite materialmade of approximately 14 percentsawdust or some other form ofwood pulp (such as paper) and 86percent ice by weight. Its use wasproposed during World War II byGeoffreyPyke

to the British RoyalNavy as a candidate material formaking a huge, unsinkable aircraftcarrier.Pykrete

has someinteresting properties, notably itsrelatively slow melting rate(because of low thermalconductivity), and its vastlyimproved strength and toughnessover unmodified (crystalline) ice; itis closer in form to concrete.

Pykrete

is slightly more difficult toform than concrete, as it expandsduring the freezing process.However, it can be repaired andmaintained using seawater. Themixture can bemoulded

into anyshape and frozen, and it will beextremely tough and durable, aslong as it is kept at or belowfreezing.

Pykrete

http://simegen.com/writers/lois/pykrete.htm

Silica fumeis added to Portland cementconcrete to improve its properties, inparticular its compressive strength, bondstrength, and abrasion resistance. Theseimprovements stem from both themechanical improvements resulting fromaddition of a very fine powder to thecement paste mix as well as from thepozzolanic

reactions between the silicafume and free calcium hydroxide in thepaste. Addition of silica fume also reducesthe permeability of concrete to chlorideions, which protects the reinforcing steel ofconcrete from corrosion, especially inchloride-rich environments such as coastalregions and those of humid continentalroadways and runways (because of the useof deicing salts) and saltwater bridges.

Seeded Aggregate Finish:Small decorativestones are imbedded into the top layer ofconcrete, and during the finishing process,exposed to give a pebble texture to theconcrete finish. This is a similar techniqueto exposed concrete, but instead ofexposing the natural concrete aggregate,decorative aggregate is added wheninstalled.

Photocatalysts, Self-Cleaning Concrete:When used on or in a concrete structure,photocatalysts

decompose organicmaterials that foul the surface. The organiccompounds affected byphotocatalysts

include dirt (soot, grime, oil andparticulates) biological organisms (mold,algae, bacteria and allergens), air-bornepollutants (VOCs including formaldehydeand benzene; tobacco smoke; and thenitrous oxides (NOx) and sulfuric oxides(SOx) that are significant factors in smog),and even the chemicals that cause odors.The catalyzed compounds break down intooxygen, carbon dioxide, water, sulfate,nitrate and other molecules that are eitherbeneficial to or at have a relatively benignimpact on the environment. Most inorganicpollutants and stains, including rust, are notcatalyzed.

Photocatalysts

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1113_concrete/source/7.htm

http://www.concretedecor.net/All_Access/504/CD504_New_Tech.cfm

http://www.axisdesignlab.com/photocatalytic

White cement concrete:White Portlandcement is used in combination with whiteaggregates to produce white concrete forprestige construction projects anddecorative work. White concrete usuallytakes the form of pre-cast cladding panels,since it is not economical to use whitecement for structural purposes. WhitePortland cement is also used incombination with inorganic pigments toproduce brightly colored concretes andmortars. Ordinary cement, when used withpigments, produces colors that may beattractive, but are somewhat dull. Withwhite cement, bright reds, yellows andgreens can be readily produced. Blueconcrete can also be made, at someexpense. The pigments may be added atthe concrete mixer. Alternatively, toguarantee repeatable color, somemanufacturers supply ready-blendedcolored cements, using white cement as abase.

White Cement Concrete

http://www.mortarsprayer.com/papercrete/

http://www.masticmasters.com/efflorescence.html

http://www.mostphotos.com/1470491/concrete-white-cement-wall

Papercrete

is an alternative constructionmaterial made from a paper-like fibrousmaterial mixed, Portland cement and clayor soil.Papercrete

dates back to 1928 whenit was first patented. Since the late 80′sPapercrete

has had renewed interest as analternative or environmentally friendlybuilding material due the amount recycledpaper used to make it. The fiber inPapercrete

makes it fairly flexible whichtends to crack less than stucco mixes. It iscommonly used inearthbag

and rounded ordomed structures. Once dry it has a fibroustexture and gray in color.

it can be crushed andreused as a partial replacement for naturalaggregatein newconcrete construction. Thehardened concrete

canbe sourced either fromthe demolition of concrete structures at theend of their life–

recycled

concreteaggregate,or from leftover fresh concrete which ispurposefully left to harden–

leftover

concrete aggregate. Alternatively freshconcrete which is leftover or surplus to siterequirements canbe recovered by separatingout the wet fines fraction and the coarseaggregate for reusein concretemanufacture–

recovered concrete aggregate. Additionally,waste materials fromother industriessuch ascrushed glass can be used assecondaryaggregatesin concrete. All these

is a proprietary pre-mixed ultra-highperformance concrete whose physical characteristicsexceed those of common concrete used in theconstruction of buildings. It is manufactured by Lafargeand Bouygues. Ductal has high compressive strengthand flexural resistance compared to other concretes. Italso has high durability, abrasion resistance, andchemical/environmental resistances (e.g. freeze andthaw, salt water, etc.). Due to these properties, Ductalcan be used in thinner cross-sections and in morevaried applications than common concrete. Ductal isalmost self-placing and is best suited for precastelements or in-situ repair or upgrade works. Theconstituents of Ductal are cement; fine sand, silicafume and silica flour as a filler, additive and water,using a low water cement ratio and may include high-strength steel fibers or non-metallic fibers.

Ductal is a ductile material that possesses ultra-highcompressive strength, high tensile strength and highdurability together with high fatigue performance. Italso has excellent impact, blast and abrasionresistance. The type and quantities of special materialsused in Ductal result in a superior material that canprovide innovative and valuable solutions for a widerange of applications; it is not a replacement forordinary concrete in applications that do not exploit itsunique properties and requires performanceengineering.

Ductal Concrete

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ductal

http://sumarch.com/tag/digital-milled-concrete

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48915730@N08/4475167332/

The use ofsuperplasticizers

(high rangewater reducer) has become a quitecommon practice. This class of waterreducers were originally developed in Japanand Germany in the early 1960s; they wereintroduced in the United States in the mid-1970s. They allow for increased workabilitywithout the addition of any additionalwater.

cracks actually need to occur before the WWF goes towork. Small-diameter synthetic fibers (nylon, glass,steel or polypropylene) are now being added toconcrete to reduce shrinkage cracking by more than80% according to independent lab tests. Reducingcracks improves concrete impermeability, increases itstoughness and long-termweatherability, and canreduce callbacks in concrete slab floors, decks,driveways, and walks. According to fibermanufacturers, the placement, curing, or finishcharacteristics of the concrete are not affected by theaddition of fibrous reinforcement.

Fiberous

Concrete Reinforcement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_reducer

http://quayconcrete.co.uk/fibres-and-admixtures/

http://www.forta-ferro.com/products/specialty-fibers/

The majority of regular concrete produced is in the density range of 150pounds per cubic foot (pcf). The last decade has seen great strides in therealm of dense concrete and fantastic compressive strengths (up to 20,000psi) which mix designers have achieved. Yet regular concrete has somedrawbacks. It is heavy, hard to work with, and after it sets, one cannot cut ornail into it without some difficulty or use of special tools. Some complaintsabout it include the perception that it is cold and damp. Still, it is aremarkable building material-

fluid, strong, relatively cheap, andenvironmentally innocuous. And, it is available in almost every part of theworld.

Regular concrete with microscopic air bubbles added up to 7% is called airentrained concrete. It is generally used for increasing the workability of wetconcrete and reducing the freeze-thaw damage by making it less permeableto water absorption. Conventional air entrainment admixtures, whileproviding relatively stable air in small quantities, have a limited range ofapplication and aren't well suited for specialty lightweight mix designs.

Lightweight concrete begins in the density range of less than 120pcf. It hastraditionally been made using such aggregates as expanded shale, clay,vermiculite, pumice, and scoria among others. Each have their peculiarities inhandling, especially the volcanic aggregates which need careful moisturemonitoring and are difficult to pump. Decreasing the weight and densityproduces significant changes which improves many properties of concrete,both in placement and application. Although this has been accomplishedprimarily through the use of lightweight aggregates, since 1928 variouspreformed foams have been added to mixes, further reducing weight. Thevery lightest mixes (from 20 to 60pcf) are often made using only foam as theaggregate, and are referred to as cellular concrete. The entrapped air takesthe form of small, macroscopic, spherically shaped bubbles uniformlydispersed in the concrete mix. Today foams are available which have a highdegree of compatibility with many of the admixtures currently used inmodern concrete mix designs. Gecko Stone of Hawaii is currentlyexperimenting with one such foam.

Foam used with either lightweight aggregates and/or admixtures such as flyash, silica fume, synthetic fiber reinforcement, and high range water reducers(akasuperplasticizers), has produced a new hybrid of concrete calledlightweight composite concrete, or LWC.

Light Weight Concrete

http://www.geckostone.com/lwc.html

Polymer concrete

is part of group of concretes that usepolymers to supplement or replace cement as a binder.The types include polymer-impregnated concrete,polymer concrete, and polymer-Portland-cementconcrete. In polymer concrete, thermosetting resinsare used as the principal polymer component due totheir high thermal stability and resistance to a widevariety of chemicals. Polymer concrete is alsocomposed of aggregates that include silica, quartz,granite, limestone, and other high quality material. Theaggregate must be of good quality, free of dust andother debris, and dry. Failure of these criteria canreduce the bond strength between the polymer binderand the aggregate. Polymer concrete may be used fornew construction or repairing of old concrete. Theadhesion properties of polymer concrete allowpatching for both polymer andcementitious

concretes.The low permeability of polymer concrete allows it tobe used in swimming pools, sewer pipes, drainagechannels, electrolytic cells for base metal recovery, andother structures that contain liquids. It can also beused as a replacement for asphalt pavement, for higherdurability and higher strength.

slurry with astable, three-dimensional pre-formed foam meetingASTM C869. The foam is produced by diluting a liquidconcentrate with water, then pressurizing it with airand forcing it through a conditioning nozzle. The foamis then blended with a base mix consisting of cement,fly ash, water and sometimes aggregate. This causesthe base mix to expand and become lighter. Thisengineered, open-cell lightweight material is capableof reducing loads without disturbing or re-directingnatural water flow. The air bubbles hold their shapeuntil the cement hydrates permanently trapping the airin the material. The density and strength of thematerial is a function of the mix design. While specificGeofill

Concrete Canvas (CC) is a flexible cement impregnatedfabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durablewater proof and fire proof concrete layer. Essentially,it's concrete on a roll, all you have to do is just addwater. CC is supplied in rolls, 1.0 and 1.1m wide and inlengths up to 200sqm. CC is available in 3 differentthicknesses, 5mm, 8mm and 13mm.